The Witch in the Forest
by accelerator 231
Summary: A boy breaks his ankle, all alone in the deep woods of Europe. And then, all of a sudden, a girl claiming to be in a Witch comes by?
1. Chapter 1

The Witch in the Forest - Part 1

He sniffed, rubbing at his hurt ankle. Tripping over that tree root had really hurt him. The foot was swelling now, throbbing like a drum, and he held back several tears as he tried and failed to stand up. He reached around in his backpack. Then he remembered. He'd already lost his water bottle. And he was feeling hungry. He had already eaten all the food he had on him, even the icky raisins in the gift bag that no one really wanted.

Stupid stupid stupid! Why did he have to separate from the group and have one of his friends cover for him? They must have already walked mile away from him. He looked at his phone. No signal. And he didn't know how to get out of these woods. Something about... following the sun? He tried to do so, but after a day or so of walking, he sat down. This wasn't going anywhere. He was in a forest in Sweden, but... which forest was it again? Ah, heck, this wasn't going to help him. He had no idea where he was in this forest. And even if he did, he didn't have a map or landmarks.

Why did he... oh yes. His mother. With her new boyfriend. He didn't want a new father. He didn't want a new person to get into his house. He and mom got along fine. He didn't want new siblings. He didn't want to move. And he didn't want to share.

That's why he wanted to stay here. He always liked through the forest with his mother. The silence. The leaves. The rare birdsong echoing past the branches. The silent chill of the wind hitting his cheeks.

He shivered now. The woods here weren't like the woods back home. He didn't have anyone with him. His house wasn't a short walk away. There were no trails and no signs he could use here. There was no abandoned house he could play in, nor any way he could call anyone.

He forced himself to move up, ignoring the searing pain his ankle gave him. He had to move. He had to move or die.

~

He was going to die.

He clutched his stomach, and the leftovers that were still in his stomach came out in a flood, the acid scorching his mouth and bringing tears to his eyes. What was that about having to make sure that the water you were drinking from was clean? The water looked clear, but there must have been something in it. Or else he wouldn't be like this.  
He felt something rumbling in his tummy. He took off his pants and squatted. No, he wasn't going to go out like this. He was going to die with all the dignity he could get.

A day later, and much further from the river that cursed him, he decided that dignity could wait. There was nothing to come out from either end anyway. His throat was parched, with every breath making his mouth feel like cotton and sending pinpricks of pain through his neck. His eyes had long since run out of tears, and his vision turned blurry. He lay there on the forest floor, nearly flat on his face, too tired to even turned around and sit up.

The cold winds bit into him, like knives cutting at his face. They must be looking for him now. They had to. Nevermind the fact that they probably didn't know where he was, or that it would take some time before they realized that he was missing. Or that it would take time for them to even set out to search for him. Or that they might not find him in time.  
He looked up, straining his neck as much as he could. Here, he could see the stars.

Then darkness claimed him.

~

"Wow, a kid! I wonder what he's doing here?"

"Woah, feverish as hell. Lips parched. Must have drunk some bad water somewhere."

"Yep. Broken ankle."

"Wonder why he's even here?"

~

He awoke to the sound of something… delicious. He sat up. He was in some kind of cloth sleeping bag, with a blanket over him, in some kind of tent. He moved, noting that for the first time in what seemed to be forever, his stomach no longer hurt, and he didn't feel like vomiting. The pain in his stomach was now replaced by the old and cheerful sound of growling. He sniffed. The smell… It was coming from outside.

He moved the tent flap. A girl was sitting there, her back to him, squatting in front of a small fire, stirring a pot of something. The smell was coming from that pot. The girl held the ladle, and held it up to her face, and took a sip. A sound of satisfaction came out, and she sprinkled something into the soup.

He took a small step forward, and stepped on something. There was a crack, and the girl turned and stood, smiling. Now that she had turned to face him, he could see her better. She was dressed in black, with white lace underneath, and something like a white apron on her skirt. Her hair was blonde, with a single braid reaching down in front of her shoulder. She was grinning at him. And as he looked at her, she put on a pointed hat.

"Yo!" she said, waving. "So, you're finally awake. Good thing. I thought you were going to die." She pointed to the thing in the pot. "Found a bunch of nice mushrooms, and added in some stuff. You wanna try them? You weren't in any state to eat last night, so I dragged you here."

He nodded, moving towards the pot. The girl gave him a spoon and a biscuit, and he began to eat. The soup had chunks of meat and mushrooms in it, along with a sprinkling of pepper, and he dipped the biscuit into it and ate it. It must have been his hunger, because this was one of the most delicious meals he had ever eaten. He barely paused to breath, and in five minutes, the soup disappeared from the pot.

"Thank you." He said, breathing a sigh of relief. He thought he was going to die. He looked at his rescuer. "Thank you."  
"No problem." She said, with a cheerful smile. "So I'm sure that you were wondering what was happened. I found you, and seeing that you were probably shaking and burning up, you probably drank some bad water and got sick. I gave you some medicine and let you drink some of mine, so now you should probably be fine."

Experimentally, his thoughts went to his pants and he gingerly checked to see if there was any… stains on it. Nothing. Thank god, he wasn't going to embarrass himself in front of this girl. He hadn't had much experience with them, but he always thought they were weird or crazy. Not much point in talking to them.

"So… who are you? What's your name?" he asked. He fumbled through his memory, trying to remember what his mother had told him about being polite. His mother…. And father.

The girl's grin became even wider and she picked up a broom that he hadn't noticed. She struck a pose, and made a V sign. "My name is Marisa Kirisame…. The Number Two in Gensokyo! The Witch of the Magic Forest! And soon to be Magician!"

The girl was obviously crazy. But she had saved him. So he bit down a retort and tried to make sure his voice wasn't too sarcastic. He failed. "Witch? That's crazy. What do you do, grab mushrooms and make potions? Cast magic spells? Everyone knows that there is no such thing as magic." He crossed his arms and nodded to himself. He was always rational and reasonable, smarter than his friends. He always scoffed at old ghost stories. Everyone knew that there was no such thing as ghosts. Or witches. Or magic.

"Well, I'm afraid that not everyone knows that. For one thing, I don't!" The girl whirled about, and pointed her finger at a bunch of trees to the right. Her finger hung there for a moment, quivering… and then a beam of light exploded from her finger, and hit the trees. There was a boom, and things went flying. The only thing left of the trees was now a bunch of shattered, charred stumps. He watched as several of the branches and trunks flew away into the distance, forgetting to keep his jaw shut.

The girl grinned and turned around to him. "You believe me now?"

~

"I don't get it, though." He said. They were both sitting on a bunch of nearby logs. Marisa had helpfully blasted the trees down, and they were using them as impromptu benches. "You can do magic, but you call yourself a witch. But you don't look like one."

"I don't look like one?" said Marisa, pointing at herself. "I'm dressed in black, have a broom, and have a pointed hat. What else do you want?"

He drummed his fingers, thinking of the stories he had read before. "Well, witches are… they're supposed to be old! And smelly!" He didn't quite realize that Marisa's smile had suddenly disappeared. He would regret this later. "And they're supposed to be hunched over! And have a hooked nose! And have lots of warts and wrinkles and be ugly! And then they- Agh aghagh!" he shouted in pain, moving his hands up to protect himself from a broom that was suddenly whacking him on the head. "What's that for?"

"Lies! Lies and slander!" Marisa was shouting now. "Witches are supposed to be ugly and have warts! And smelly? Who the hell says that? Take that back now!" and she started to hit him again.

"Ok ok ok! I'm sorry! You're beautiful and pretty ok?" he said. The broom stopped, and after one final whack, it disappeared. He peered out, and looked back at Marisa. The blonde was sitting on the log, arms crossed, frowning, the deadly implement next to her.

"You serious?" she said.

"Serious about what?" he asked.

"About me being pretty."

"Yes. Please don't hit me again."

"Ok." She said, as if she hadn't been hitting him five seconds earlier. "So how's the leg?" she pointed downwards.  
He looked downwards. He hadn't noticed, what with the new events he was dealing with. His ankle was no longer hurting, and instead, was locked into a splint with several sticks and pieces of twine. He flexed it, and a jab of pain shot up his leg, making him flinch. Marisa must have seen it, because she sighed.

"You broke it. I did my best to fix it, but you really need to get it fixed. What were you doing here anyway?"

"I was-" he thought what to say first. "I got lost. I wanted to explore the woods. Then I hurt my foot, and then realized I didn't know how to get out. I drank some water, and then I got sick."

Marisa nodded, leaning back against a trunk. "Well, thought so. It's really far from any village here, so I was wondering why a kid was doing in the forest. For a moment, I thought-" she paused.

"Hey, I'm not a kid!" he said. "Besides, you're not much older than me anyway!"

"Oh really? How old are you? And who are you?"

He puffed out his chest and raised his shoulders, making himself look as big as possible. "I'm Neil Smith! I'm twelve years old this year! And I'm already a grown up!"

Marisa simply smiled. This irritated him somewhat. Like she wasn't taking him seriously or something. "Well, I'm fifteen years today. So I'm already older than you. Besides, I can take care of myself. So that means that I'm already an adult."  
"That's that's…." he tried to think of a counter to that, but he couldn't. After all, he was the one who had collapsed on the forest floor after drinking dirty water and had to be found and rescued. "Well, I'm… I'm…. I'm going to be all grown up soon anyway! Mom says so!"

"Speaking of mothers…." Began Marisa. "What were you doing there, anyway? You said you were lost, but _that_ lost? You must have the skill of getting lost, because it'll take a day for me to travel the distance to the nearest city. And you were walking."

He ignored how she said she could fly. "Well, that's because, well…. I wanted to be alone. So I sneaked off from the group."

Marisa simply shrugged. "Well, you're not the dumbest person in the world, but you certainly rank somewhere at the top. So you got sick. And you made it out alive. You wanna hop on the broom and get to town? I'm sure that your parents are worried about you."

The mention of his parents reminded him of just why he had decided to start trekking through the forest without preparation or planning. Something must have shown on his face, because Marisa's expression became a bit softer.  
"You don't want to go home for some reason, don't you?"

He nodded.

"Well, that's alright!" she said grinning. "I don't want to, either! You're just staying for a few days, right?"

"Urm… yeah!" he lied. Actually, now that he thought about it, running away from home wasn't such a good idea after all. "Just for a few days. When my leg feels better. Then I'll get back."


	2. Chapter 2

The witch in the Forest - Chapter 2

"Tell me more, tell me more!"

There was nothing to do here. No signals for the internet, no gps, and no way to call anyone. Marisa didn't have any books with her, even if she did, he realized that he probably wouldn't like what the witch read. So there was only one thing left to do.

Story telling.

Now, Marisa had finally finished her story on how she had kicked the ass of a vampire. "And then, I fired out my Master Spark!" she said, shouting and striking a pose, one foot on the tree that she had knocked down. "And that was that. The red mist finally disappeared. and Gensokyo could see the sun again. The day was saved."

"Wow, really!" he said, shouting. He had already forgotten his boredom, his family, and the pain in the leg. "So did the vampire stay angry with you? Did she try to take revenge?"

"Nope!" said Marisa, putting her hands on her hips. "She took it surprisingly well. Remilia's many things, but a sore loser isn't one of them. So I sometimes get invited there to eat. Or I invite myself. Patchouli's got a great selection of books."

He frowned at that. Memories of a lesson from long ago. "Mom says that stealing is wrong. She says that people wouldn't take things that aren't there's."

"Pah!" said Marisa, pointing a thumb at herself. "Well, my parents said that I couldn't learn magic. And look what we have here?" she said, emphasising her point with several small balls of fire levitating from her hand and exploding like a miniaturized firework. "Turned out pretty cool."

He crossed his arms, doubt and hesitation entering his mind. "Yeah, but won't you get lonely and scared? I mean, you said that you went into the woods by yourself and just lived in an abandoned house? Wouldn't it get pretty hard to, you know, cook and clean for yourself? And make your own clothes? And all those other things? Even if you could learn magic..." He trailed off, thinking.

"Yep." Marisa nodded. "It was pretty hard. I knew how to take care of myself, but it was still tough going for the first few years. Eventually, though, I managed to keep on going. I couldn't deal with having to go back to the village empty handed, you see. I'll rather die. So I just kept on going, until I finally managed to learn." She pulled out something. It was shaped like a beehive, and had some weird chinese words on them, with a hole in the center. "Wanna seem something cool?"

"Yeah." he said, eagerly standing up. He could always stand to have more magic to look at.

"Watch this." she pointed the thing upwards. There was a roar, and a beam of light leapt from the central hole, spiralling upwards into the sky, the beam as thick as any of the trees surrounding them. The light curved upwards, until it seemed to strike some unknown ceiling. Then it scattered, expanding outwards like a ripple in a pond. The ring of light expanded, and smashed through the tree tops unfortunate enough to get in its way. There was a crash, and then for the next few moments, the silence of the forest was broken by the sounds of treetops hitting the ground.

Then silence reigned.

"That was so awesome!" he shouted, jumping up and down. Marisa turned towards him with a smile, and he rushed over to check out the box-thingy. "How did you do it? How does it work?"

"Well, it'll take lots of explanation. But it has to do with negative ions and..."

~

"I don't get it, why do I have to do this?" he complained. Listening to Marisa tell her stories was awesome. Watch her fly around or cast lighting bolts and fireworks was even more awesome. So when Marisa asked him to help her out in magic in exchange for saving him, he had jumped to it. He had imagined helping to cast spells, or make cool artifacts. Not... not...

Not trudging through the woods, touching the trees, trying to find weird mushrooms!"

"Because two heads are better than one." said Marisa, flying around on her broom. "It's really hard to find stuff here, cause of all the logs and all. You're smaller, and a lot more nimbler. Do me a favour, will you?"

He grumbled, but he did it anyway. He didn't want to argue with the witch, even as he found himself getting more and more annoyed.. He grumbled, checking for mushrooms or strange things underneath logs, his knees and elbows getting dirty and dirty.

"Hey, are you sure? Red, with a yellow ring on it?" he asked, shouting to the girl flying overhead.

"Yeah! And check out for those lichen that look orange in colour! Those are good too! I really need them for experimenting!"

"Experimenting? Like those scientists? The ones with the test tubes and chemistry sets?" he asked. He had seen a few shows and movies talking about them. Hopefully he would be able to see even more of it.

"Scientists? What do those do?"

He couldn't quite believe his ears. "Scientists are..." he fumbled for the right words. "Scientists are people who discover things! And invent them! And make really cool stuff! Like my phone! And the cars! And the planes!" he said, happy with what he thought about. "In other words, they make amazing things."

"Oh, really?" Marisa's eyes glinted with interest. "So you're saying that they're sages and philosophers and craftsmen? Scholars who try to understand the world around them and improve their lives based on them?"

"Yep."

A thoughtful look went past Marisa's face. "Wow, that actually sounds a lot like some of the Magicians and Taoists I've met before. Maybe I should pay them and their places of learning a visit. Can't hurt to go around and borrow a few materials here and there..."

He listened to her mutter about some weird things, even as he scrabbled around to find the magic mushroom she apparently needed. Then, his eyes found something, hidden right beneath a log jutting out over a hollow. There, in the shadow, was something reddish.

"Hey, I found one!" he said, holding it up. Red with a yellow ring on it. "So is this the right one?"

"Oh yeah, that's alright!" said Marisa, landing right beside him, taking the mushroom and turning it this way and that. "You know, you're a pretty sharp kid. I've been searching for 3 days, and never found a single one. You've been searching for, what, a few hours? You've already got one."

He smiled proudly, basking in the praise. It felt really nice. Ever since his father died, he had been feeling rather down. Even his mother didn't smile much at this time, and didn't say many things. When she said something, it was usually something like 'Eat your vegetables' or 'please be quiet' or 'just let me sleep'. It felt great, this time, to be praised for something he had achieved on his own.

"So, lets go!" said Marisa, hopping onto her broom and putting the mushroom into a bag. "Time we got back to camp."

He looked at her in surprise. "Didn't you say that that red mushroom was particularly valuable and rare?" he asked, surprise in his voice. "Aren't you going to, you know, want to find more? I mean, there's still a lot of forest we got to cover."

"Yeah, but its rare." said Marisa, shrugging. "Finding one is pretty good. Besides," a look came over her. "Tell me more. About the scientists. The phones. All those kind of stuff. Looks pretty interesting."

~

"So here's a phone." he said, taking it out of his bag. It still said 'no signal', but there were plenty of batteries. The sky was rapidly turning from a light shade of blue, to greys and deep red, their surroudings turning dark, the shadows cast by the trees swiftly turning long and gnarled as the sun began to set. They both watched the darkness creeping up over them, even as they talked over what Neil had seen in what Marisa referred to as 'The Outside World'.

"So here's what they call a phone" he said, showing it to Marisa. "So let's start with the easiest stuff. There's a flashlight in here." he pressed a button, and out came light from a corner of the case. Marisa blinked at the light, and then held up a finger, which then began to glow.

"Like this?"

"Yes." He said, nonplussed that his attempt to show off his phone was so easily dealt with. "And it can talk to anyone in the planet, as long as I have their number. And with it, I can access the internet, which is basically a lot of information and knowledge of the world. You can find almost any kind of information on the internet. Including maps, where you are, and other things."

"Oh, really?" said Marisa. "Can you search for more magic?"

"Urm... no." He didn't think of that. "Actually, right now, I can't use it. Because I'm very far from the towers. Or the satellites. I can't use it. Or talk to anyone either."

"Yeah, i thought so." said Marisa, "If you were able to use your phone like that, I wouldn't have found you collapsed on the forest floor. And besides, if it really has the power to access all human knowledge, why didn't you use it to find out things like 'How to survive in the wilderness' or 'how to identify dangerous water'?"

He turned away from her, embarassed. Despite his resentment at the fact that Marisa wasn't impressed with his phone as he thought she should be, she was right. Why didn't he? He had already planned to run into the forest a week before getting there. He had remembered to pack in extra snacks, but he didn't search how to get food or water, or what would happen if he got sick.

Lacking any kind of response, he hoped to move the conversation away. "S... So!" he stammered, trying to keep his anxiety out of his voice. "Did you know that Neil Armstrong walked on the moon? He was the first one to step there! My mom named me after him!"

"Wow, that's cool!" said Marisa. "I went there too! Where did he land?"

"You... You went to the moon?" said Neil, somewhat at a loss for words. "But how? There's no water. No air. Nothing living there? You would need a rocket and protective suits-"

"What do you mean by 'no air and water'?" said Marisa with a mystified look on her face. "There obviously is water and air. Because I was literally walking there. No protective suits needed."

"Why were you even there." he said, finally giving up. T_his is getting crazier and crazier_ he thought, _but then, I'm talking to a witch right now who can fly and throw fireballs. Maybe I'm completely wrong about my perception of reality._

A small giggle, not one of amusement, escaped his lips.

Marisa didn't notice it, continuing to ramble on about her adventures on the moon. "So anyway, my friends were there, Reimu, Sakuya, Remilia, and all that. And then we met these two sisters. We were getting our asses kicked, and then I suggested a Danmaku battle."

"A danmagu battle?" he asked, finally curious. "Those names - they're the vampire, the shrine maiden, and the maid, right?"

"Yep! A Danmaku is... well, you can call it a duel. We charge up lasers and energy bolts and chuck them each other. Dodging, blocking, and counterattacking, until someone loses."

"Sounds like a more fun version of dodgeball." He crossed his arms. "What are the rules?"

Marisa shrugged, even as she leaned back, right next to him. She lazily cast out a hand, and a fireball was sent out screaming, striking the pile of wood. A fire was born, and with a flick of a finger, a glowing ball was above the camp, shining in the darkness, bright as any lightbulb. The shadows were chased back, and he glanced up at the magical display, somewhat envious at the apparent effortlessness.

"Well, it'll take too long to talk about the rules, so I'll just tell you of the guidelines. First of all, the loser can't be killed or hurt by the winner. Secondly, there must always be a fair chance of victory for both sides. Thirdly, no one can use lethal attacks."

"No lethal attacks?" asked Neil. "But wouldn't that mean its a lot harder? And, well, wouldn't people cheat, because if they kill the people they fight, they won't have to fight again?"

"Well, there were a few idiots who thought that." replied Marisa, a sagely look on her face. "But everyone grew wise to them, and just killed them back. Everyone liked the Danmaku rules. It meant that you didn't risk getting killed each time you get into a fight with someone. A lot of people died before this happened."

"Oh." That was all he could say. That moment on the forest floor when he looked up at the night sky and believed that it would be his last came back to him. He couldn't quite fathom a world where it was dangerous, where he could be killed at any moment. He had always been safe. No murders, no violence, nothing. He couldn't imagine seeing someone die. Not to mention killing somebody. He pushed the thought out of his mind. Death was something he did not welcome. Not after brushing so close to it.

~

It was in the dead of night. Marisa had already extinguished the light, citing security reasons to make sure nobody could find them while they were sleeping. So it was in mostly darkness that he found himself awakening with an extremely familiar sensation.

He gritted his teeth and moved the tent flap, peeking out into the wilds. The woods looked far, far different at night. Thick branches and trees blocked out the majority of the moon and starlight. Trunks and underbrush blocked his vision and cast strange shadows. He could barely make out shapes in the darkness, and even as he looked at the outside, he could hear sounds of tree rustling and movement of the undergrowth.

Now was not the time for courage and bravery. Now was the time for safety. He tugged Marisa's shoulders. Once, twice... until she stirred, getting up to look at him. Rubbing her eyes,she waved him off.

"What is it?"

"I... need to pee."

"Ok, sure. What about it? Just go."

"Urm..." He hesitated for a moment. "Can you go with me? Its dark and all, and I'm - " he didn't get to finish until Marisa sighed, and got up, sticking her upper body through the tent flap. A snap of fingers, and the area shone with light. Marisa must have cast that lightning ball spell again. She turned back to him, an expectant look in her eyes. He just shook his head. Marisa sighed, and exited the tent. He followed, and soon, he was there, peeing on a tree while Marisa looked away, a light casting.

The silence stretched on awkwardly. He turned around, seeing Marisa with her back to him, facing the darkness. She was standing there, her back to the light, looking into the darkness, further from the light than him.

"Say, Marisa?"

"Yeah?"

"You said that you came from Gensokyo, the far Eastern Wonderland... a place with shrine maidens, gods, vampires, fairies, and ghosts. There's a lot of stuff, and it seems kinda dangerous. So are there any monsters that come for you in the dark?"

Marisa released a bark of laughter. "So that's what you're worried about? No worries, kid. There ain't no monsters around here kid. We aren't in Gensokyo. Besides, if there are monsters here, they're the ones that should be screaming and begging for help. Now hurry up." she yawned. "I need to go to sleep."


	3. Chapter 3

"So its been several days. You ok now?" asked Marisa, looking him over. The blonde was currently looking at him take a few experimental walks around, carefully putting weight on his broken ankle. There was a twinge of pain as he took a few experimental steps... but far less than before.

"Wow, your medicine works" He said in surprise. And he meant it. He heard that it took weeks for broken bones to heal. And its only been a few days, and now he could walk without a splint. "It'll take a few more days before I can run again."

"Yeah. And then I can just bring you home." said Marisa. And at that, he froze. Truth to be told, he had been so caught up in his new adventure, talking and living with a witch, listening to her talk of the place called Gensokyo, that he had nearly forgotten about the situation back home. He stopped, and sighed, and simply sat on the ground, hugging his legs.

"Yo." said Marisa, looking at him. She sat down beside him, back to the log, watching the forest scenery before them. "So, you finally ready to talk about it, now?"

He looked away from her, avoiding her eyes. He didn't want to talk about it. And he wanted to talk about it. Talking about his feelings made him feel silly and stupid. I'm a boy. I don't need to talk about things like this. He thought. And yet... some part of him wanted to open up. To talk to her. To tell her of his feelings and fears and all that. To let it all go. And another part of him told him not to look weak in front of this incredible person, who could do things no one else in the world could do, who was probably a hero in an action movie, and was the greatest person he had ever known.

He felt something on his head. It was a hand. Marisa slowly tousled his head, petting him and running her fingers through his hair, the slow gentle rhythm relaxing him and releasing the tension he was feeling. Slowly, ever so slowly, his shoulders began to slump, and he began to lean into her, resting his head on her shoulders.

"Well... I don't want to go home." he said, looking up into her eyes.

"Why?" she asked. "Are you afraid of your parents? Do your parents hurt you? Did they treat you badly?"

"No." he shook his head. Mom had always been there for him. Even when he threw tantrums. Even after dad died. Even when he did stupid things and got himself hurt. And most likely, she would still be there even after all this. "Actually, I don't have parents. I have my mom. Dad died several months ago."

"Oh. Sorry about that." said Marisa, awkwardly. "So that's why you ran away? Because you were upset your father died?"

"No. It's because..." he struggled to put what was in his mind into words. The morass and mess of thoughts, feelings, and impulses that led him into this forest. "It's because Mom just shut down. She just drifted through life, making food, going to work, then sleeping. For months. And then one day, she suddenly started moving. Like she got a combination of soda and chocolate." he felt silly for the comparism.

"That's good, isn't it? That means she got over your dad's death, right? That's pretty good news. People should be able to move on." Marisa's voice was calm. Him, though, was not. Something in him shouted at this, shouting that this was wrong. That no one should get over his father's death. It was like forgetting he had ever existed. Mom was already packing dad's things and putting it into the garage. This was not something he would accept.

"No. I don't want it..." he tried to speak up. "I don't want a new father. And he has children of his own. "

A look of sympathy crossed over Marisa's face and she patted his forehead. "Well, that's kinda shitty, isn't it? I mean, your dad dies, your mom gets really upset over her husband dying, and then when she finally finds another person that makes her happy and repairs the hole that has been left in her life, her son just ups and runs away into the forest because he didn't like the new guy."

He winced. He raised a voice of protest, saying "That's not what..." before shutting up.

Yes, that was true. His mother was sad when his father had died, all those months. And now, for the first time ever, she had been happy. He should be happy for her. He should be willing to put up with a new father and new siblings if it made mom happier and more lively and being able to talk and smile rather than simply shuffling around like a zombie. But...

"But she's throwing out dad's things. That's wrong. He's dead, but that doesn't mean that... That he's just ignored like this!" he said, drawing on a deep core of stubbornness that he knew he had. He wasn't going to lose this argument, and especially not to a stranger to his family.

"Well, that's not true." Marisa made a clicking sound with her tongue. "You know... Just because your mother put away your father's things, doesn't mean that she's forgotten him. I'm sure that your mother's love for your father is greater than just a few things that can be stuffed away in a small room, right? Isn't it much more substantial than that?" He nodded. Marisa continued.

"Well, think about it this way. Your mother can love more than one person, right?" she asked. He nodded. "So she loves both your dad... and the new guy. In other words, your dad is still loved and cherished by your mother. He isn't forgotten. He's still cared for. Just because he's not here, and that your mother is now with another man, or his stuff is now put away, doesn't mean that he's somehow insulted or his memory desecrated. And I'm sure that if he was alive, he would want your mother to be happy. And that can include her remarrying."

"But... what if I don't like my new family? What if they treat me badly, or I don't like them? What if mom likes them more than she likes me?"

"Well kid, the question is, do you trust your mother?"

"...yes."

"Do you trust that she loves you? Do you trust her to protect you if things go wrong and to take your side? Do you think that she'll choose a man who is good for her children?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Well." Marisa clapped her hand. "I think that's that. And if you don't like your new family... well, that's beat, but I guess you can either tell your mom about it, or just walk out the door if you don't like it. Just like I did."

"Wow, you ran away from home, too?" he asked, sitting up, looking at Marisa in awe. "Did you, well, get sick?"

"Yeah, a few times." she shrugged. "My father didn't let me learn magic... so I took a few books and started practicing in secret. Pretty much burned down my house that one time." she laughed. "It was really really fun when I started learning how to fly at night, taking the broom out for a few jaunts here and there. It got bad when my dad found out, though." she winced, recalling a painful memory. "I had to choose between magic and him... and I chose magic. It's been 8 years since then, and I haven't seen him since."

"So what you're saying is..."

"I really think that your mother is worried for you, and that you better get back home soon."


End file.
